I’m looking into building Company-internal competency centers across Europe. In this process there are some cultural differences that need attention, and there are some differences how we organize ourselves that need attention.
One of the differences which puzzles me, is how we look at meeting our colleagues regularly, face to face. I’m not talking about project co-location. It should be proven beyond doubt that the preferred working situation for a project is to be as close to your peers as possible, and if you cannot sit together, there are many comunications toools available to help this out. Because – in a project people realize that communication must happen constantly.
But – what about the other colleagues? The ones that have business cards with the same logo as yours, who work in the same geographical area within the company. What is the value of meeting them if our work never really is related? And how much should the company invest in making people coming together just for the sense of belonging? And how many of them do you need to meet?
This is being very differently handled in the organizations that I work with. As a leader myself, I feel a need to know the people who work for me, to be able to have informal meeting arenas where communication can flow freely. You can communicate with people you never meet, but can you build culture? Can you build trust and the necessary devotion to make people put in that extra effort without them never being physically a part of the team?
My experience tells me that every employee regularly should meet their closest leader and a smaller group of employees with which they can bond. But as I see others not working this way, can anyone argue that my conclusion is incorrect? That a virtual fellowship creates a sense of belonging that is as strong as being together in person?
Many of our employees – consultants – do not work day-to-day together with their colleagues. They work with their customers and their identity is often more strongly connected to their customer than their employer – me. So I try to make them come together with other employees – we arrange partys, skills upgrading, bike trips – anything to give an opportunity to be together and build relationships. Until proven wrong, I’ll continue to spend money on this, building culture and dedication to people we actually have met and who we will meet again – soon.
Marianne Selle 